Slumdog Millionaire - 2009

Danny Boyle's new film has been described as the feel good film of the year, and in most respects it is. A unique little story about a slum dweller who manages not only to get onto the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, but also manages to get all the way to the final question and the chance to win 20million Rupees. Through a inventive and engaging flashback, which writer Simon Beaufoy intricately weaves into the script, we learn the life of this unexpected success from his childhood right through to his destiny in the chair.
Beautifully shot in Mumbai the film successfully captures the vibrancy of living in a city so over populated. In addition the film spans enough time to show how the city has evolved over the past 20 years.
Danny Boyle's direction is effective, if not quite up to some of his previous efforts, and the performances are all engaging, commited and above all believable. Dev Patel who plays the hero Jamal is particularly likeable and his younger selfs (Ayush Mahesh Khedekar & Tanay Hemant Chheda) are also fantastically good actors.
Essentially this film is a romantic drama. Jamal, as a young boy meets Latika and spends the most part of his life trying to save her, find her or be with her, despite traditional obstacles. This is another love conquers all stories, if with a distinct twist to the tale.
Slumdog Millionaire picked up Best Film and Danny Boyle, Best Director at the Golden Globes, and this bodes well for his Oscar chances come February, but the film feels too much like a Oscar type film. The ending, although never too sentimental, still feels predictable, right from the very first few frames. But then this is not a story about the ending, but rather the journey there. The bizarre and often unexpected events in the young hero's life which provide him, unexpectedly, with the answers to each of the questions. The interrogation, as the authorities suspect fraud, of the Jamal is violent but never brutal, and his questioning seems a little too relaxed, particularly considering the violent interrogation which occurs beforehand. What interrogation techniques actually exist for cheating on the game show (which aparently is more common than in the UK) are excessive, but shed little light on the true mentality of the Indian authorities.
My main problem with the story wasn't that it felt over romantic, or sentimental but that it was all too convenient and stereotypical. Two brothers, Jamal and his older sibling Salim, follow a preditable path. There's nothing there which feels genuinely unique other than the concept of having the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire reward. Despite this its very difficult to not like the film, and for most this will be one of the gem's of 2009.
Although I do not feel it is good enough to be deserving of Oscar's, I for one would not be in the least surprised to see both best picture, and best director going to Danny Boyle's heartfelt love story.
A uplifting, heart warming romantic drama with a unique twist, still manages to feel predictable and conventional despite some excellent cinematorgraphy and superb performances. Not so much a missed opportunity as a solid entry into the feel good genre.